Filling in for George, Dave Schrader (email) was joined in the first half by freelance writer and crypto expert Brent Swancer (Facebook), who shared tales of the supernatural and strange crimes, including the case of demons on trial, a vampire panic in New England, and the story of the Bloody Bender family.
Swancer detailed events leading to the trial of Arne Johnson, also known as 'The Devil Made Me Do It' case (article), which began when the Glatzel family acquired a new rental property. While cleaning the house their son David was shoved onto a bed by a mysterious force and described seeing an old man with charred skin, jagged teeth and pointed ears, Swancer explained, noting the entity warned, "If you move in here, there will be trouble." Poltergeist-type activity ensued, David manifested traits of possession, and exorcists were called to deal with what was thought to have been 43 different demons, he continued. Johnson, boyfriend of the Glatzel's daughter, moved in to make the family feel safer. He taunted the demons and gave them permission to enter into him, Swancer revealed. Soon after Johnson began having weird trance episodes, one of which ended in the stabbing death of a neighbor, Swancer said, adding that when he went to trial his attorney used demonic possession as his defense.
Swancer covered the Mercy Brown incident and vampire panic in New England during the 19th century (article). According to legend, Brown passed away from tuberculosis and was seen shortly thereafter by locals walking around at night. When people began dying around her sightings, Brown's body was exhumed and found to be in good condition with rosy cheeks and fresh blood in her heart, he reported. Swancer recounted the bloody story of the Bender family, who ran an inn on a trail frequented by pioneers on their journeys to the West (article). Some bodies had been found with their heads bashed in and throats cut, but not much was thought about it until a notable man went missing, Swancer disclosed. An investigation turned up bodies on the Benders' property as well as the method they used to kill and dispose of the people they welcomed into their inn, he said. Swancer also briefly spoke about cryptids in Japan, such as the legendary snake-like Tsuchinoko and the Japanese Bigfoot known as Hibagon.
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The latter half of the show featured Open Lines. Linda in Bloomington, Illinois, told Dave about a mysterious explosion on the Salty Brine State Beach in Rhode Island, which hurled a woman into a nearby rock jetty. Linda suggested a landmine had been placed there to purposely hurt the woman, and dismissed an official explanation about a hydrogen gas build up from corroding copper cable causing the blast (article). James from New York described a dream in which his deceased uncle, a carpenter, was sawing wood. James said the next morning he found copious amounts of saw dust outside his front door. A truck driver named Huck shared his family's harrowing experiences living in a haunted house. According to Huck, they heard knocking, his wife was choked, and their son talked about seeing shadow people and an entity known as 'Mister Rader' in his bedroom. Huck said the case will soon be featured on a chilling new series called Paranormal Survivor.
Lassy Project
During the first few minutes of the program, Jon Guyon, CEO of the Lassy Project, talked about how his organization is providing a free service that gives parents and guardians the ability to notify an entire local community within minutes about their missing child.